Uncovering the Artwork of the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead:Delving Into a Morrill Quandary

By Patrick Heltz

Summer Season 2015

Table of Contents :

i. Cover Page ii. Report Outline

iii. Table of Contents iv. Introduction v. Religion in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork

vi. Classicism and Neo-Classicism in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork vii. Literary Authors and Romanticism in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork

viii. Politics in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork ix. Friends and Family in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork x. Miscellaneous Thematic Observations

xi. Justin Morrill ’s Books on Art and his Artwork xii. Justin Morrill ’s Geography and his Artwork

xiii. Art Mediums and Justin Morrill ’s Artwork xiv. Conclusion xv. Sources Cited

xvi. Provenance xvii. PastPerfect

xviii. Recommendations to Better Incorporate the Artwork into Guided Tours xix. Figures xx. Intro and Notes for Morrill House Art Tour

xxi. Suggested Changes to Webpages xxii. My Personal Experience at the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead

xxiii. Index

Introduction

When one looks into Justin Morrill’s collection of artwork he or she starts to wonder what kind of man owned these pieces and what was this person’s personality. Justin Morrill’s political career is well known and his actions as a member of Congress are documented. The details not covered in history books and biographies are on his tastes and interests. Why did Justin Morrill have this particular piece adorn his walls? What influenced his decision to seek out and purchase this artwork? Why these mediums over others? From where did his art come?

I will break down his artwork into the themes to make each vein more manageable. Within each grouping I can draw commonalities and discover differences. The groups will pertain to

religion, classics, literature, politics and friends and family. This way I hope to shed some light on the factors that make a person buy certain art pieces. To different extents books, religion, contemporary art movements, politics, geography, friends and family all influenced Justin Morrill to display the artwork he did.

As we will discover, Justin Morrill was a man of his time. He stayed current with the trends of his day and those naturally found themselves influencing his home. Popular movements, mediums and artists of the day can be observed throughout his homestead. He spent much of his later life dividing his time between his Vermont and Washington, D.C. homes. His proximity to art cities such as New York, Boston and Washington, D.C. itself, opened doors to the art world for Justin Morrill. Some of his art, though, came from overseas. He and Maine representative James Gillespie Blaine traveled through Europe, and they brought ideas and artwork home with them. Justin Morrill spent forty-three years in congress, so unsurprisingly politics made a huge impact on his life. His choices in artwork demonstrates that tenure. Many pieces signify important moments in American history or great men and women who served this country. In his long life Justin Morrill forged many relationships, he spent his life building a family and making friends of fellow politicians or statesmen. Visages of many of these people found their way on to the Homestead walls. Justin Morrill prided himself on learning all he could and thus had a full library. A list of his owned books (which excludes books in the Homestead library) has over 1,200 entries. It can be assumed that Justin Morrill has read, or at the very least was familiar with the contents of, these numerous books. I believe that, similar to most other people past and present, Justin Morrill in some cases was so fascinated or captivated after reading one of his books that he was motivated to purchase a piece of artwork to remind him of his favorite stories or characters. I believe the relation of book to artwork will also help reveal the presence of certain themes in the Homestead.

In addition to these themes I will provide supplementary information. This will be regarding the geographical constraints of Justin Morrill’s art collecting. Also included will be information on the trend of artwork mediums in the Morrill Homestead. The latter half of the 19th

century naturally went through artistic changes and feelings towards different mediums changed according to such. The medium choices coupled with the variety of subjects help place Justin Morrill in the mid-to-late 1800s and essentially makes a time capsule of the Homestead.

What made him want this subject in his house? I hope to answer this and the other questions posed above by comparing the depictions of scenes and characters on his walls with his religion, the popular ideas of his time, his political career, his relationships, restraints of geography and chronology and the stories and volumes on his bookshelves.

Religion in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork:

Justin Morrill must have had an academic interest in the Bible, and based on his numerous books on the Bible and the breadth of pieces relating to it, it is fair to conclude it was a subject that held a deep importance in his life. In Parker’s Justin Smith Morrill the author states that Justin Morrill’s youth in New England, which he describes as having been “stirred by the great liberalizing and solvent sweep of the Unitarian movement of the first quarter of the nineteenth century”, would have a great effect on his relationship with religion. Parker goes on to say “He had seen the traditional creeds shaken if not overthrown; for him the classical theology had lost its authority; the ancient dogma had no grandeur; he was prepared to think for himself,

to ‘try all things and hold fast that which is good,’ on the sole authority of his own intellect.” (pg. 356) He may have seen theology as another academic area for him to explore, as he did with fields like literature, agriculture, architecture and politics. In fact Justin Morrill’s library contains several other holy works on Mohammed and Mormons. However, neither Islamic nor Mormon themes appear in any of Justin Morrill’s artwork, so Christianity was clearly more than simply an academic interest. Overall Justin Morrill had a very poor view of Mormons. He even tried to pass legislature against bigamy, an attempt so fervent that Great Salt Lake City newspaper The Mountaineer called into question if he were a patriot and whether Mr. Morrill was in possession of “a different copy of the Constitution” (3). The other point to consider is that he was not the only person living in the house so it is possible some of the artwork being displayed was influenced by his family, especially by half-sister-in-law Louise. As a man of his time Justin Morrill was current with favored art movements. The five Renaissance period pieces were likely sold more for reasons of art appreciation than for worship. It may not be a coincidence that all five of these pieces depict scenes from the New Testament.

Classicism and Neo-Classicism in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork:

There are sixteen art pieces in the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead depicting classical Greek and Roman subjects and scenes spread across eight rooms. Most of which originate from ancient myths, while others come from modern Latin texts and ancient history.

Considering the large amount of artwork in his home it is not a great leap to deduce that Justin Morrill was thoroughly caught up in the popular Neo-Classical movement. The ideals of Greco-Roman society would have spoken to him as a man who put such a large emphasis on education and politics. He would have surrounded himself with these images that represented principles he agreed with and strived to maintain in his world. Many of the government buildings in Washington, D.C. were designed with classical elements to achieve the same effect. Meanwhile, Justin Morrill could use these pieces as a symbol of his status and intellect, feeding off the fashion of the time, and use to uphold a cultured front. Visiting friends and dignitaries would be impressed with his taste, a characteristic a politician such as Justin Morrill would want to push to the forefront. His placement of so many of these pieces in areas receiving the brunt of visitor traffic is no accident. The parlor was designated as the room to entertain company, it is even situated to the immediate right of the main entrance, and of course is the room decorated according to a classical theme.

Literary Authors and Romanticism in Justin Morrill ’s Artwork:

Although Justin Morrill lived through the Neo-Classical Period in which art depicted characters, stories and ideals from Greco-Roman antiquity he also lived through the overlapping and opposing era of Romanticism. It was an intellectual period that gained popularity during the last decade or so of the 18th century and was at its peak throughout the first fifty years of the 19th century. The movement was a response to feelings of disenchantment concerning values of the Enlightenment, specifically ideas of order and reasoning. Unlike Classicism, Romanticism brought individualism, emotion and the beauty of nature to the forefront of the visual and literary

experience while disregarding rationalism. Gods and myths were not the ones depicted but instead landscapes and persons or scenes of historical importance.

The United States was new enough to be caught up in the whirlwind of nationalism and it was firmly set by the time Justin Morrill had taken office. Romantic pieces such as those of Wilkie are what one would expect to see in a politician’s home. Besides being the predominant artistic school at the time, it also found its way into American homes due to its representation as a sign of pride for one’s nation and of a refreshing newness built on emotion and expression. Similar to the display of Classicism pieces in the house, many Romantic works are also located in common areas. In photos of Justin Morrill’s Washington, D.C. home there are Romantic pieces displayed in the parlor and drawing rooms, including “Shakespeare and His Contemporaries” and “Sir Walter Scott and His Friends at Abbotsford”. Back in Strafford, Vermont, the music room, which was mainly used for the entertainment of a few guests, contains several Romantic art pieces. These works would seem ill fitting in the classically themed parlor, but were still in an area where the art could be seen by those visiting. Fewer Romantic art pieces were located upstairs decorating Mr. and Mrs. Morrill’s bedrooms, but these are less explicitly literary and nationalistic.

Justin Morrill ’s Geography and his Artwork:

An import aspect of cataloguing the artwork held at the Justin Smith Morrill Historic Site is to place where Justin Morrill obtained it. There is a wide variety of pieces in the Homestead and they originate from many cities, but some are harder to discern than others. The Homestead boasts a large collection of engravings. Fortunately this type of art piece is the most likely to have the addresses where they were created on it. This is because they were printed by companies with a fixed location. Some photographs also have addresses on them and a few other pieces’ origins can be determined from writings left by Justin Morrill.

Much of Justin Morrill’s artwork originates from the east coast of the United States. This makes sense considering his two main residences were in Strafford, Vermont and Washington, D.C. He would travel back and forth depending on when Congress was in session. The biggest cities between Vermont and Washington, D.C. are New York City and Boston. None of his artwork is known to have originated south of Washington nor anywhere in the Midwest or west coast. Most likely due to his usual travel routes but also because so many of the large art cities, and most established cities for that matter, were located on the upper east coast. The Civil War would also have made it difficult for Justin Morrill to travel into the south during the years of his statesmanship. Not that Justin Morrill thought much about the southern states considering his strong Republican views and his stance with Rutherford B. Hayes on the end of reconstruction.

Art Mediums and Justin Morrill ’s Artwork:

One can see how these trends in preferred medium related to what kinds of art pieces Justin Morrill was obtaining when. About half of the artwork in the house are printed using the process of engraving, or the closely related methods of etching, lithography or heliotypy. The dining

room boasts a large portion of the engravings at the Homestead. “The Death of the Red Deer” dated 1846, “The Baron's Charger” dated 1850 and “Ancient Carthage - The Embarkation of Regulus” dated 1853 are all examples of steel engraving. All of these were produced in the mid-1800s. Considering Justin Morrill was retiring in 1848 and also building his new house at the same time it makes sense that this is when he began acquiring much of his artwork. However, Justin Morrill’s election to congress in 1854 would have opened up new channels for him to acquire art, plus he would have begun traveling farther for work than he had previously. His career as a businessman most likely kept him around his shops located in Vermont and Maine. I believe Justin Morrill’s 1867 trip to Europe also landed him many of his art pieces, as Paris, and other large European cities, were at the forefront of the art world. He could have purchased works here or at least set up connections to make it easier for him to obtain pieces in the future after he had returned to the states. Most of the steel engravings in the house were made during this mid 1800s period, with the latest pieces being produced in the mid-1860s. As other mediums started flourishing one can find a variety in types of pieces in Justin Morrill’s home as the years go on. Also in the dining room is “Windsor Castle in Present Time” dated 1861. This piece was created using a combination of engraving and etching. In the north chamber/ Ruth's room there are three etchings hanging above her bed. One piece “Durham, England” was produced in 1880, the others, which are of the same dimensions and medium and also follow similar Romantic scenes, are most likely from around the same time. “Après Le Combat” is a print of Paul Alexandre Protais’ painting “Le Soir après le combat”. It was created in the mid-to-late 1860s and is a rare instance in the Homestead of a print after a painting that was neither engraved nor etched. Rather it is a print of a photograph of the original piece. Otto Lingner’s “Left To The Wide World” is another photographic print of a painting. This piece was made in 1877 at the earliest, since Lingner did not attend the Berlin Academy until that year and this piece has Berlin written under the artist’s name, so one can conclude it is not possible for it to date earlier and most likely dates even later to allow for the original painting to be created and then for the prints to be made. As the century came to a close this process of creating a copy of an original painting grew much more popular than steel engraving, most likely due to the relative ease of taking a photograph compared to the time-consuming process of engraving. Also a photograph is essentially the same picture while engravings are bound to have differences from the originals, as engravers are able to take liberties when recreating a piece, not to mention the loss of brushstrokes. Justin Morrill has in his collection a few lithographs, two of which are colored. The dates of these pieces are from the same period as many of the engravings. At this time lithographs were cheaper and easier to make than engravings. A lithograph is similar to an engraving but the artist uses a special crayon, pencil or pen to draw onto a polished stone, hence the litho- prefix. The stone would then be inked and when pressed only the drawing would show as the ink would not stick to the uncovered stone. To color lithographs, and one in the house is colored, the artist would use one of two methods. He would either hand paint it with it watercolors or use printing stones with different colors on each to apply the colors. Pieces created making use of this second process are called chromolithographs. Lithographs were at the height of their popularity between 1820 and 1900 (6).

The amount of engravings in the household speak to Justin Morrill’s attempt to make a beautiful house while trying keep up an image of himself. Steel engravings were very popular when Justin Morrill was middle-aged and probably when he was at his wealthiest. Engravings were particularly nice for those who wanted famous art pieces in their house but were not able to

obtain the original painting. There are twenty-one original pieces of artwork in the Homestead, suggesting that Justin Morrill was aware of what constituted fine art pieces but may have been challenged by his geography or possibly constricted by his income which hindered his ability to gather more original art. Justin Morrill provides this explanation himself in a letter to George Perkins Marsh dated September 5, 1870: “I love pictures without being much of a judge but have contented myself with engravings, not being able to supply myself with any reasonable number of decent oil paintings.” Conclusion

In a memorial address on the life and character of Justin Morrill, U.S. Representative from Vermont Horace Henry Powers says “Mr. Morrill was a lover of art. He was even a connoisseur.” (9) When one looks through Justin Morrill’s extensive art collection it is clear that he was a man of good taste. He was interested in pieces that embodied the art movements of the mid-19th century including Neo-Classicism and Romanticism. He was interested in pieces that appreciated the craft in portraying his academic interests, including theology. He was interested in pieces that reminded him of the events, friends and role-models that went along with his long political career. He was interested in pieces that showed off his family. Whenever friends were visiting, Justin Morrill was prepared to show off his scholarly and up-to-date taste, wowing them with a wonderfully decorated home. One can see how his artistic enthusiasm led to him putting an importance on beautifying the capitol. Before his death Justin Morrill was able to leave his own masterpieces in Washington in the form of the stunning Library of Congress and Statuary Hall.

Recommendations to Better Incorporate the Artwork into Guided Tours:

After completing a tour of the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead, patrons often comment that they do not feel as though they had walked through a museum, but rather a home. The absence of plaques and velvet ropes help maintain an aesthetic that suggests the Homestead is frozen in time. It appears as warm and hospitable as it did when the Morrill family still resided there. An obstacle is encountered when one wishes to continue the preservation of the home in this way while desiring to incorporate the artwork more fully into the guided tour.

I propose several methods to best incorporate the artwork into guided tours.One possibility is to create a brochure that patrons could be provided as the tour starts.

These brochures could be laminated and held in the reception area. They could be passed out to later be collected at the conclusion of the tour to be used again for future patrons. The information could be read at the patrons’ leisure as they pass through the house. Tour guides could point out the pieces on the brochures and offer additional information as the patrons follow along. Alternatively the brochures could be printed similarly to the Homestead and Vermont State Historic Sites pamphlets that are offered at the Homestead, which would allow for patrons to take the artwork information home with them as a souvenir. The brochure would highlight a select several pieces spread throughout the house and provide the basic information for each piece, including but not limited to: an image of the piece, title, artist(s), measurements, year of creation, description of the subject and any further interesting notes. The pieces chosen for inclusion could be on a rotation and perhaps be grouped by one of the many common themes

linking the artwork, such as religion, Classicism, Romanticism, literature, politics or the Morrills. It would be astute to have the highlighted pieces scattered throughout the Homestead to keep the tour even and not front or back loaded. A drawback to this idea is the possibility that with this inclusion of new material the tour could slow or lengthen significantly. Also out of necessity only some of the artwork would be touched upon.

To avoid altering the structure of a guided tour, the artwork information could be distributed other ways. Information formatted similarly to the brochure mentioned above could be compiled into a binder or book. Each piece would be given a page complete with image and information. The binder would be divided into sections by room for easy navigation and so patrons could be given a context of the pieces and remember where they had seen it or where they will see it on a tour. Some pros of this delivery are that more pieces can be included and with more extensive information. Others are that patrons will be encouraged to spend as much time as needed to look at each piece and do so at their own pace. Several binders could be produced to prevent patrons from feeling as though they are hogging the binder. Collecting all the pieces in one place such as a binder or book would also have space advantages. The binders would be displayed in the house and or the carriage & horse barn. Binders could also be easily loaned to other establishments to promote and educate. A disadvantage of this delivery is that the patrons will not be able to experience the actual artwork while reading about it from the binder as it would be difficult for the binders to accompany patrons on the guided tour. The only solution would be if certain pieces were removed from the house temporarily to act as visuals on display with the binders. Another flaw is that the information could only be accessed wherever the binders are, meaning patrons would not be able to bring the information home with them. This drawback could be remedied by placing the pages from the binder in their respective rooms. For example all of the pages on pieces that are hung in the dining room could be laid out on the dinner table for patrons to peruse, or the pages could be held in a folder or display for easy access. This method would allow guests to read the entry in the same room as the art without having to carry anything around, also the walls would not need to be covered in distracting placards either.

Another possibility is that the information is displayed on the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead webpage. The information could follow a similar format of either the brochures or binders, but would be entirely virtual. An advantage of a web hosted catalogue of artwork is that it can be accessed anywhere with internet service. This means any patron would be able to read about the pieces before or after visiting the Homestead. There is a possibility for external links to more content around the World Wide Web. Users would access the works and read the information provided by the site but could have the option of following links bringing them to external sites with information concerning different artists, schools, techniques as well as more photos of these and similar works. Links could also be local and connect to a database of these same facts. In the same way the PastPerfect Museum Software has pages of information available if a subject or artist is clicked on, this website would too link to additional information in this way. The current historic site website features tabs on the right side of the page allowing a user to navigate through Site History, Homestead Tour 1st Story, Homestead Tour 2nd Story, Exhibits, Events, etc. A new tab on artwork could be made, this would be similar to the Homestead Tour but would give information on the pieces room by room. There currently is some information on this site about the artwork but it is not the focus. A new separate section would be beneficial to delving deeper into the art. Some of the current information regarding the artwork on the website is unclear or inaccurate and could use updating. (See below after Guided

Art Tour Notes for suggested changes to webpages) Unfortunately the disadvantage of an online catalogue is that the information could not be accessed during a tour and not even immediately after.

The most comprehensive delivery of this information would be a combination of some or all of these systems. A three pronged service would ensure all bases are covered, however, there would be much overlap. At the very least a list of the artwork in the house could be left out and available for patrons to peruse.

Another idea is that an entirely new guided tour catered to the artwork is devised. This tour would be more immersive and would touch exclusively with the art pieces. A selection of pieces would be chosen to represent the house and a guide would go into heavier detail on those. Justin Morrill’s preferences and taste could be gathered and understood in the context of his collected artwork. This tour would appeal to art enthusiasts and those looking for more beyond a standard house tour. Unfortunately the relatively low traffic of the Justin Smith Morrill Homestead due to the isolation of Strafford, VT would make regular art tours impractical. The best way to give art tours at the Homestead would be on marked event dates. Perhaps a weekend at the beginning of each month or holidays would be specially advertised as art appreciation days, during which artwork tours would be offered as a supplement to normal house tours. (See below, after Figures, for notes for Morrill house art tour.)

Failing all of these ideas, one possibility is to rely less on integrating specific pieces into the tour and decide more to use generalizations about the artwork Justin Morrill owned considering the time he was alive. As thoroughly discussed in my report, Justin Morrill was a man of his time. He held many of the same tastes as most artistically inclined men did. A brief overview of the clash between the soon to be fading Neo-Classicism and the new and growing movement of Romanticism could help contextualize Justin Morrill’s artistic preferences. Also the age he lived in would help explain other aspects of his house such as the theme of the parlor and his diverse book collection. This may be a theme brought up in the front parlor, considering the classic theme, and continued into the music room which features some of the best examples of Romanticism. It could be reinforced when visitors are brought into the library as a way to interest them in the range of topics presented in the volumes on Justin Morrill’s bookshelves. Also small tidbits about certain popular pieces could be incorporated or used to answer questions. Guides could carry with them a sheet with important facts, or a more convenient approach would be to keep a listing of the art work in each room. A packet of information could be concealed in a drawer and be taken out and referenced after a difficult question is posed.

Attached are examples for brochure and binder artwork entries:

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 1. This is a mock-up of what a binder art entry could look like. An image of the piece is located in the top center. Below is the title, in this case “Windsor Castle in Present Time”. Next on the left there is the artist name(s) and his or her role in parenthesis, on the right there are the measurements and creation date. Below this information is the text on the piece, if applicable. The bottom is allocated to display, in the left column, a description of the subject of the piece and, in the right column, additional notes of interest. In the top left corner is the room location and above that a colored square. The square color coordinates with a square on a page that would precede the artwork (Figure 2) that gives the locations of all the pieces in that room.

Figure 2. This is a mock-up of what a binder room entry could look like. The page would show a layout of the room, and each piece would be indicated by a colored shape. Below a list of the artwork titles would be shown along with a square the same color as the shape indicating where the piece is in the room. The room image should be greatly improved if this idea is to be put into use.

Figure 3. This is a mock-up of what the front and back of a brochure page could look like. The front panel would tell the reader where they are and what the brochure is a guide to, complete with a photo of the exterior of the Homestead. The back panel features a plan of the house and a colored rectangle representing where each piece is located. This plan is an updated version of the original house plans. Above the plan is a photo of Justin Morrill to fill up empty space. The third panel would be folded in so it could have an entry on it like the entries in figure. 4.

Figure 8. This is a mock-up of what a brochure for a guided art tour could look like. This is a brochure that would be available much like the brochures held inside and outside the reception room for the Bennington Battle Monument and the Eureka Schoolhouse, etc… This front side tells that the tour is available and features a picture of one of the oil paintings in the house. Above and below are decorations taken from the architecture at the Homestead.

Intro and Notes for Morrill House Art Tour

The notes for the art tour would follow a similar flow and format as the normal guided tour. However, the information will deal with the art pieces specifically and the order of the rooms may alter to better allow the flow of information. Each room will serve a purpose in establishing themes and mediums Justin Morrill owned, other interesting facts about these two topics as well as geography and others will be sprinkled in throughout the course of the tour. The focus of this tour is to give a look into who Justin Morrill was and how the age he lived in defined him and his artistic tastes. Information on specific art pieces will for the most part not be included in these notes. Only a select few pieces in each room will be highlighted, similar to the composition of the current normal guide notes. Only when discussing the above stated themes will specific pieces be mentioned. If one wishes to speak specifically about certain pieces that information can be gathered from other documents and archives I have created including this report as a whole, the art listing and the PastPerfect catalogue. Much of the text is adapted or copied from this report. This, of course, is a set of notes and a tour guide, as with the normal

guided tours, should embellish the basic script as they see fit. Questions should be encouraged especially for touching on certain pieces as addressing every last pieces would be difficult. The artwork listing may be beneficial to carry along on the tour to help answer questions on dates and exact titles, etc. For parts of the tour that are the same as the normal guided tour I will note as such and refer to the original guided tour notes. Additional reader comments will be written in italics.

Summer 2015 temporary seasonal employee Patrick Heltz compiled these notes.

Dining Room:This room will be the first stop after reception and will be used to introduce the medium of engravings. All of the pieces contained in the room are engravings. Engravings are made from inking metal plates that have been cut into to produce many prints of a picture. Often engravings were made to replicate paintings or to be included as illustrations in books and less commonly as original pieces. During Justin Morrill’s lifetime several types of engravings fell in and out of popularity. In the first twenty or so years copper plate engraving was the most popular. Copper was a soft metal so plates could be easily carved and thus could be updated after wear or a mistake. Around 1820, steel engraving began overtaking copper as the preferred engraving medium due to its hardness. Steel plates could be used to print many more copies before wearing out, also finer lines could be made for sharp precision work. All of the pieces in this room were made from steel plates as Justin Morrill was only a boy when steel took its place as the preferred engraving metal. Most of the steel engravings in the house were made during this mid 1800s period, with the latest pieces being produced in the mid-1860s. A new technique, etching, soon challenged the traditional method of steel plate engraving. Etching became widespread as it required a much simpler metalworking process, if one was versed in drawing then one could easily transfer those skills to etching. It became common for etching and engraving to be used together to achieve a desired effect. Etching, like engraving, often was used for similar types of pictures. “Windsor Castle in Present Time” is the only piece in this room that uses etching in addition to engraving. Fittingly, it has the latest printing date in this room at 1861. All of the rest of the engraved copies date from 1846-1856. The exception is the Grant and Morrill pieces which date later and are after photographs. Engraving favorability was also hit by the advent and improvement of photography. Engravings after fine art pieces soon made way for photographic prints of those same art pieces. Examples of this will show up in subsequent rooms. The amount of engravings in the household speak to Justin Morrill’s attempt to make a beautiful house while trying keep up an image of himself. Steel engravings were very popular when Justin Morrill was middle-aged and probably when he was at his wealthiest. Engravings were particularly nice for those who wanted famous art pieces in their house but were not able to obtain the original painting. Justin Morrill provides this explanation himself in a letter to George Perkins Marsh dated September 5, 1870: “I love pictures without being much of a judge but have contented myself with engravings, not being able to supply myself with any reasonable number of decent oil paintings.”

Front Parlor:

This room will introduce the medium of porcelain and the theme of classicism. This room features three of the three-dimensional pieces in the house. And these three are also three of the four porcelain pieces too. “Ariadne on a Panther” and “Una and the Lion” are made from Parian ware, which is a 19th century hard, white and unglazed type of bisque porcelain. “Venus de Milo” is bisque porcelain. This material was popular for figures and decorations due to its smooth marble-like appearance. Traditionally marble is used for sculpture in the Western world when attempting to convey prestige. Bisque porcelain has a flat texture and appearance. As Bisque porcelain was usually only decorative it remained unglazed since it did not need extra protected due to limited handling. Justin Morrill’s pieces were made specifically to be displayed in a Victorian home. These pieces may have been acquired to show that Justin Morrill was a man of fine taste, even if he was not able to obtain original marble statues. Instead he got himself the next best thing. Similar to the amount of engravings in the dining room instead of oil paintings. Two of the statues in this room are classically themed. As is the theme of the room itself. There are sixteen art pieces in the Homestead depicting classical Greek and Roman subjects and scenes. Most of which originate from ancient myths, while others come from modern Latin texts and ancient history. Classicism was a philosophy that was widely embraced from the 15th into the 17th century. A wave of newly discovered knowledge on classic antiquity swept through Europe and inspirited Europeans’ minds. This was a time of new, albeit re-discovered, ideas, especially on society. The philosophy was often expressed in the artwork of the day. Following Classicism was Neo-Classicism, a period Justin Morrill lived in. Neo-Classicism saw contemporary works being created after artists became familiar with the re-discovered ideals of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Justin Morrill’s pieces represent art from both Classical and Neo-Classical Periods. Engravings after paintings such as Raphael’s “Filosofia” and “Poesia” are from the Classical Period. Also from that period is an oil painting thought to be by Guido Reni, or at least in the style of him, of Diana being pursued by her lovers. Many others are Neo-Classical in origin, which makes sense due to the years Justin Morrill was alive and collecting art. “Ariadne on a Panther” is an example of Neo-Classical works. Considering the large amount of artwork in his home, Justin Morrill was caught up in the popular Neo-Classical Movement. He would have related to the ideals of Greco-Roman society as a man who put such a large emphasis on education and politics. These images represent principles he agreed with and strived to maintain in his world, just like how many of the government buildings in Washington, D.C. were designed with classical elements to achieve the same effect. Meanwhile, Justin Morrill could use these pieces as a symbol of his status and intellect, feeding off the fashion of the time, and use to uphold a cultured front. Visiting friends and dignitaries would be impressed with his taste, a characteristic a politician such as Justin Morrill would want to push to the forefront. His placement of so many of these pieces in areas receiving the brunt of visitor traffic is no accident. The parlor was designated as the room to entertain company, it is even situated to the immediate right of the main entrance, and of course is the room decorated according to a classical theme. The materials used for some of the other pieces could be told such as for the oil painting and the charcoal drawing. Constantino Brumidi should also be introduced in the parlor as he is in the normal guided tour.

Back Parlor/ Music Room:

This room will introduce romanticism, touch on photography and then lead into political friends which will be continued in the library. Another popular theme that Justin Morrill lived through the peak of was Romanticism. Romanticsim was an intellectual period that gained popularity during the last decade or so of the 18th century and was at its most popular throughout the first fifty years of the 19th century. The movement was a response to feelings of disenchantment concerning values of the Enlightenment, specifically ideas of order and reasoning. Unlike Classicism, Romanticism brought individualism, emotion and the beauty of nature to the forefront of the visual and literary experience while disregarding rationalism. Gods and myths were not the ones depicted but instead landscapes and persons or scenes of historical importance. “Shakespeare and His Contemporaries” shows Shakespeare sitting at a table in the Mermaid Tavern surrounded by his colleagues whom make up the Friday Street Club. Several of these men worked in Romantic literature. “Sir Walter Scott and His Friends at Abbotsford”. Once again a depiction of a famous Romantic writer and his fellow Romantics and friends. One person in the painting is Sir David Wilkie, original artist of two pieces at the Homestead. Including “La Fille de Saragosse” (also called “Daughter of Zaragoza”). This piece is the epitome of a Romantic painting. Years of nationalization had caused the emergence of Romantic history paintings. Wilkie’s “La Fille de Saragosse” shows Agustina Raimunda María Saragossa Domènech, a Spanish civilian who saw the unravelling of her country’s forces and rushed to load and fire a cannon at the attacking Napoleonic French forces. Her act of heroism inspired the soldiers around her and helped delay the conquest of Zaragoza. Surely it is clear to see the appeal of such a heroic and patriotic picture in the midst of a nationalistic pride which had its seed planted as far back as the 100 Years War and had fully come into its own by the 18th century. The United States was new enough to be caught up in the whirlwind of nationalism and it was firmly set by the time Justin Morrill had taken office. Romantic pieces such as those of Wilkie are what one would expect to see in a politician’s home. Besides being the predominant artistic school at the time, it also found its way into American homes due to its representation as a sign of pride for one’s nation and of a refreshing newness built on emotion and expression.Another Romantic piece is “Après Le Combat” is a print of Paul Alexandre Protais’ painting “Le Soir après le combat”. It was created in the mid-to-late 1860s and is one of few prints of photographs taken of original artwork. As the 19th century came to a close this process of creating a copy of an original painting grew much more popular than steel engraving, most likely due to the relative ease of taking a photograph compared to the time-consuming process of engraving. Also a photograph is essentially the same picture while engravings are bound to have differences from the originals, as engravers are able to take liberties when recreating a piece, not to mention the loss of brushstrokes.The normal guided tour notes should be used here for the two T.W. Wood oil paintings in this room, and an emphasis put on their friendship. This will be a set up for the theme introduced in the library.